Mold for concrete floor beams of greenhouse benches



Sept. 18,1923. 4 3

. F. J. MEAD MOLD FOR CONCRETE FLOOR BEAMS OF GREENHOUSE BENCHES FiledApril 29, 1921 following is a specification.

Patented Sept. l8,

i r winders l d-TEN??? FRED J. MEAD, or NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

' MOLD son concnn'rn Freon BEAMS or, GREENHOUSE nmrcnns.

Application filed April 29, 1821. Serial No. 465,490.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, FRED J. MEAD, a citi zen of the United States, and aresident of Newark, county of Essex, and State of New Jersey, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Molds for Concrete Floor Beamsof Greenhouse Benches, of which the Myinvention relates to mold formaking concrete beams for greenhouse benches. Without being limited tosuch use, the mold of the present invention is especially adapt,- ed formakingconcrete' floor beams with beveled sides. suchas are shown anddescribed in my patent for greenhouse bench, No. 1,2965%, of Mar. 11th,1919.

According to my invention the mold for the concrete fioor beam isprovided with a removable bottom member or pallet, by means of which thefloor beam. of molded concrete, after being formed and allowed to setfor a short interval, can be lifted'out of the mold-and set away on itspalletin order to complete the setting of the concrete, and by havingaconsiderable number of these pallets it becomes possible to makepractically continuous use of the molds, so that operations can becarried on in an efficient and comparatively rapid manner.

The pallet is preferably formed from sheet steel and is provided withlongitudinally extending flanges on its opposite sides which servebothas legs for the pallet and provide room therebeneath for access inlifting the pallet and the beam in place thereon, and also serve to givethe pallet substantially the rigidity of a girder and to prevent flexingor bending of the pallet when in use and subjected to. the weightof theconcrete.

7 ln the-accompanying drawings. Fig. 1 is a perspective view with partsbroken. away of one form ofmold embodying my invention.' Fig. 2 is aperspective view of one of r [the concrete beams upon its pallet,- andFig.

. 3 is a longitudinalcross sectional view taken on a plane'indicated bythe line 3 3. Fig. 1.

The mold is indicated generally by ref-.

erence character 10 and comprises a pair of angle iron sills 11 arrangedparallel to one another; and crossconnected by channel 'members 12, 12.These channel members,

are of generall inverted V-form and com prise a narrow upper web '13,downwardly extending'and diverging side portions 14, 14 and laterallyextending flanges 15, 15

which are secured to the angle bars 11, 11, as by means of rivetslti, Asmany auxiliary sill members 11 as may be required to give the necessaryrigidity to the structure may be provided intermediate the end sillmembers 11, 11 and same are preferably arranged parallel thereto. Onesuch intermediate sill member 11 is shown in Fig. 1.

The number of channel bars 12 is one greater than the number of concretebeams to be formed within the mold structure. In the form illustratedfour of the channel bars 12ers shown, making provision for theconstruction of three of the concrete beams at the same time, but thenumber of mold cavities 17 and of channels 12 may be varied to meet therequirements encountered under various conditions. A. mold structure tobe operatedby two men working together may conveniently contain seven ofthe mold spaces 17, permitting that number of concrete beams to be madeatone time.

The pallets or false bottoms for the molds are indicated generally bythe reference character 18. and same are preferably made from a singlepiece of sheet metal, com prising a floor 19 and a pair of downwardlyextending flanges 20, 20 which. as already stated, serve as legs for thepallet, permitting ready insertion of the operators hands or devices tolift the pallet and the mold beam, and also'serve to give the pallet arigid or girder-like structure and prevent any bending or deflectionthereof when subjected to theweight of the concrete. The flange members20, 20 are turned inwardly at an angle which is substantially thecomplement of the angle made by the adjacent sides 1a of the channel.members 12 with the angle iron sill 11, so that when the pallet 18 isput in place within the cavity 17 in the mold member, as shown at theleft in'Fig. 1. side flanges 20, 20 lie closely against said side walls14-. 14 and prevent entry of concrete therebetween. This affords anextremely firm and rigid mold structure and effectively prevents themold structure from becoming distorted or out of shape in use, as forexample, when concrete is being tainped into place or when masses ofconcrete are shoveled or dumped upon the mold structure.

. 22 may be rcmovably secured in place in any desired way, and in theform shown, I have illustrated for this purpose a pair of turn buttons.24, 2a for this purpose. Bolts 25 are passed through openings in theangle iron sill 11 and in the turn buttons 2%, 2d, anduving nuts 26screwed on the bolts 25 permit the turn buttons 2a to be secured inupright position,,as shown in Fig. 3 and at the right hand part of Fig.1, or by loosening 'theiwing nuts 26, the turn buttons 24; may be turneddown to the, position shown at the left hand in Fig. 1. In order toproperly locate the mold end pieces 2 with respect to the remainder ofthe mold structure same arepreferably provided with the tapered blocks22, on their inner sides, which are adapted to lit within the hollowportions oi the channel members 12.

As is pointed out in my patent above referredto, the concrete floorbeams for the greenhouse benches are preferably provided withreenforcing members projecting longitudinally beyond the. end of thefloor beams, and laterally displaced with respect to one another, sothat when the completed floor beams are, arranged end to end in theconstruction of the greenhouse bench, these projecting reenforcingmembers will pass one another, and there is thereby provided between theends of the concrete portions of the floor members a space which can befilled with cementitious material, serving to complete. the floor of thegreenhouse bench and to secure the floor beams together. Thesereenforcing members may. have the form of rods 27, 27 received looselyin openings 28 within the mold end pieces 22. The portions 29. thereofproject from one end of the completed. floor beams, as clearly shown inFig. 3, and those at the opposite end. are spaced somewhat ifurtherapart,. as will be clear from the. showing in Fig. 1.

To use the mold, as many of the pallets 18 as there are mold spaces inthe mold structure are placed within the skeletonmold structure in thepositionishown at the left hand part. of Fig. 1, and the end pieces 22are put in place and. the turn buttons 2% turned to upright positionandfastened by wingnuts 26. Recntorcing bars 27 of the properlength are putinto place, being sup ported by being received in the holes 28 in themold end pieces 22. The concrete is then shovel-led or dumped upon themold structure and the mold spaces 17 are filled therewith, the concretebeing spread over and levelled ofi, much as in the case ofmakthe timewhile one set ottloor a section of sidewalk; the levelling oil being onthe plane which includes the upper edges 23 of the end pieces 22 and thetop portions 13 of the channel bars 12.

Care is taken to see that the amount of water used in mixing theconcrete is not unduly greatand under such circuu'istances the concretebeams formed within the mold spaces 17 will be, found to havesetsuiticiently within the space of a couple of hours or so. so that theymay he lifted outot the mold and set away, leaving'the mold tree forfurther use. As will be seen, the mold is so constructed as to permitthis to be done without injury to the relatively fresh concrete. itbeing only necessary to loosen the thumb nuts 26, turn turnbuttons 2a todown position and remove the mold end pieces 22 nhich have been therebyfreed, it being understood that the openings 28 are suiticiently largeto give the projecting portions 7 ol the reentorcemcnts 27 slightclearance andprevent any binding of any suchreenforcing men'ibers intheseopeningsf The eudpieces 22 having been remove'chthe concrete'l'loor beams are lifted by lifting pressure applied to the pallets '18and due to the clearance provided by the downward and inward. taper ofthe. mold sections 17, the concrete floor beams are entirely freed fromthe mold by the first slight upward lifting of the pallet 18.

Additional pallets 18are now placed in p the skeleton mold structure andthe operations which have. just been described can be repeatedindefinitely. With a mold structure arranged for the simultaneousformation of say seven of the concrete floor beams,

it is possible to make efficient use of the time of two operators whocan make use of beams is being permitted to set .to be mixing a batchof. concrete for a subsequent molding opera- .tion.

It will be seen that the apparatus described is substantial and "rigid,and can be.

readily and cheaply produced and is portable and well adapted Tor theefficient production of concrete floor beams for greenhouse bencheswhich are of uniform dimensions and readily assembled together.

It is to be understood that changes. and modifications may he resortedto Wit-hin'the scope of my claims without departing from' my inventionor sacrificing the advantages thereof. i

I claim:

1. rln a mold structure for making'com crete floor beams for greenhousebenches, a sheet metal mold having outwardly tapering sidesand inwardlyextending: bottom flanges, and a ren'iovable bottom pallet of sheetmetal having downwardly extending side flanges integral therewith andadaptedto be re ceived between the s1de members and supported by itsside flanges resting upon the bottom flanges of the side members.

2. In a mold structure for making concrete floor beams for greenhousebenches, a mold having sides tapering upwardly and outwardly, aremovable bottom pallet therefor provided with legs, and removable moldend ieces having apertures for receiving reentorces for a floor beammolded within the mold cavity.

3. In a mold structure for making concrete floor beams for greenhousebenches, a series of parallel channel bars of substantially invertedV-form providing mold cavities therebetWeen, and a series of bottompallets for the mold cavities having side flanges adapted to rest snuglyagainst the tapering sidesof the channel bars.

: a. In a mold structure for making concrete floor beams for greenhousebenches, end sills, a series of inverted substantially V- shaped channelbars extending transversely of the said sills and leaving a portion ofthe sills pro ecting beyond their ends, mold end buttons pieces on theprojecting portions of the sills and havin blocks adapted to enter theopenings Within the channel bars, means on the sills for clamping saidend pieces removably in place, and removable bottom pallets adapted tobe placed between the channel bars.

5. In amold structure for making concrete floor beams for greenhousebenches, a pair of sills, a plurality of inverted substantially V-shapedchannel bars arranged transersely of the sills and spaced inwardly fromthe outer ends of the sills, mold end pieces adapted to be received andsupported on the projecting portions of the sills, turnon the sills forclamping the end pieces removably in of sheet metal bottom palletshaving flanges extending inwardly on an angle to fit snugly against theadjacent sides of the channel bars.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing, I have signed my name hereto.

FRED J. MEAD.

place, and a plurality-

